Locking device for a series of drawers.



F. MUENNICH.

LOCKING DEVICE Foa A SERIES oF DRAWERS; APPLICATION FILED DEC.'2I, 1915.

hmmm?, famed Nov. 20, 191?.

F. MUENNICH. LOCKING DEVICE Foa A s EmEs or nRAwERs.

APPLICATION FIL/ED DEC|2|| 1915 M l A Patented Nov. 20, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

FRANK MUENNICH, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO.

LQCKING DEVICE FOR A SERIES 0F DRAWERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 20, 1917.

Application led ecember 21, 1915. Serial Eo. 68,068.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK MUENNICH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga, State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new. and useful Improvements in Locking Devices for aSeries of Drawers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which 1t appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to a device for locking a series of drawers. I

An object of the invention resides 1n the provision of a device by meansof which the plurality of drawers may be locked and which device will beoperative to release the drawers independently or simultaneously.

A further object of the invention resides in so constructing the devicethat either of the above operations may be accompllshed by a singlepressure on the operating means.

A still further object of the invention resides in so constructing thedevice that the operating means may be locked in its inactive position.l

A still further object ofthe invention resides in so constructing thedevice that the operating member must be turned to various points inorder to release the drawers and so that these points may be only knownto an authorized person.

With these and other objects 1n view, such as will appear as mydescriptionprogresses, my invention comprises the combination andarrangement of parts as set forth 1n and falling within the scope of theappended claims.

In the drawing: I

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a conventional yform of desk showing aportion of the top and one side broken away to disclose the lockingmechanism for the drawers;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the operating mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the desk with the outer wall removed andthe inner wall partly broken away;

Fig. 4 is a ragmental sectional view showing the manner in which thehook on the end of the lever extends through the inner wall of the deskand engages the hook on one of the drawers;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view showing the operating mechanism forthe levers;

they will occupy when all of the drawers are .to be released, and

Fig. 8 is a similar view showing the positlons of the fingers when butone of the drawers is to be released.

Referring to the drawing byl reference characters wherein like parts areindicated by like characters throughout the several vlews:

I have illustrated a desk which includes outer side walls 1 and innerside walls 2 whlch are in spaced relation to the outer walls 1. Thisdesk also includes a top 3 and aseries of drawers 4. These drawers areslldably mounted in the usual manner between the walls of the desk aswill be readily seen from the drawing. Secured to the rear end of eachof these drawers is a spring 5 which is also secured, at 6, to th deskproper. A second spring 7 is secured to each drawer and is adapted toabut against the rear wall of the desk. These springs 5 and 7 are undertension when the drawer is in its closed position and therefore normallytend to move the drawer outwardly. The drawers are provided with rollers8 which operate in tracks 9 so as to reduce the friction during theopening of the drawers. This friction is further reduced by means ofhorizontally disposed rollers 10 which bear against strips l1 secured tothe sides of the drawers. Rubber bumpers 10 are mounted on the drawersto arrest their outward movement gradually.

In order that the drawers may be locked in their closed positions, Ihave provided the following mechanism:

Pivoted to the sub-top 12 of the desk is a lever 13, the pivotal pointbeing at 14, which lever extends downwardly between the outer wall l andthe inner wall 2, being held in place by guide members 15, which membershowever permit its movement. On the lower end of this downwardlyextending arm of the lever a hook 16 is formed, which hook extendsthrough an opening 17 in the inner wall 2 and is adapted to engage ahook 18 which is secured to the drawer. When these hooks are thusengaged the drawer will be prevented from moving outwardly but when theyare disengaged the springs 5 and 7 will open the drawer. Each of theside drawers is provided with a mechanism similar to that describedwhile the middle drawer in the embodiment shown is locked by means of asimilar lever which however projects downwardly through an opening 19 inthe sub top 12. The ends of all of these levers 13 terminate adjacent acommon point, the ends lying in the circumference of a circle subscribedwith that point as the center. These ends are normally pushed upwardlyfrom the sub-top 12 by means of springs 2O which are disposed betweenthe ends and the top and the hooks 1G are thus normally held in the pathof movement of the hooks 18. llt will thus be seen that when any or allof the ends of the levers are depressed, that the hook or hooks 16 willbe disengaged from the hook or hooks 18.

lin order that these levers may be depressed independently orsimultaneously, T have provided an operating member which includes avertically extending shank 2l., which shank is rotatably and slidablymounted in the top 3 of the desk and is provided with a disk 22 on itslower end, which disk is located between the top 3 and the sub-top 12above the ends olf' the levers. This disk 22 is provided with a seriesof outwardly extending lingers 23 equal in number to the levers and soarranged that when the disk is in one position each will lie over theend of one of the levers. The upper end of the shank 21 is provided withan operating knob 24. Thus when the lingers 23 lie over the ends of thelevers and the disk 22 is depressed all of the levers will be actuatedto release the drawers. The disk 23 is further provided with a linger 25which is ot' greater length than the fingers 23 and which is disposedbetween two of the same. This linger is adapted to successively engagethe ends of the levers and it is so arranged that when it is engagedwith one of the levers the lingers 23 are out of registration with thelevers so that when the disk is depressed only the lever with which thelinger 25 is engaged will be actuated. The upper end of the shank 21 isfurther provided with an indicator 26, the indicator 26 and knob 24being located above the top 3. A coil spring 27 surrounds the shank 21and normally tends to move the disk 22 upwardly so that after it hasbeen depressed it will automatically move into its normal position. Theshank 21 passes upwardly through a plate 28 which acts as a dial for theindicator 26. This plate is secured to the top of the desk by means of aplurality of fasteners 29 and disposed between each of these fastenersis a symbol 30, the symbols and indicator beingso arranged, withrelation to the fingers 23 and 25, that when the indicator points to oneof the symbols the lingers narnia? 23 will all lie in registration withthe ends of the levers 13 and when it points successively to theremainder of the symbols it will indicate that the linger 25 lies overthe successive levers so that an authorized person, being acquaintedwith the relation of the symbols to the levers, may readily actuate theoperating member to release any or all of the drawers.

Tn order that the disk 22 may be maintained in its raised position sothat it will be prevented from actuating the levers, T have formed anannular groove 31 in the shank 217 which groove 1s located below theplate 28. A detent 32 is provided, the end of which is normally pressedinto the groove 31 by means of a spring 33. This detent is provided withan operated handle 34C which is of the same shape as the fasteners 29 sothat it will resemble one of the same. This handle extends upwardlythrough an angular slot 35 in the plate which is so arranged that thedetent 32 may be withdrawn from the groove 31 and moved sidewise untilthe handle 311 lies in the portion of the slot 35 which liestangentially to the plate 28 at which time the detent will be locked insuch position. llt will be obvious that when the detent engages theshank 21, the operating mechanism will be locked, but when it isdisengaged therefrom it may be actuated to release the drawers.

llt will thus be seen that ll have provided a device by means of which aseries of drawers may be locked and which is so constructed that one orall of the drawers may be released by a single pressure on the operatingmeans. Furthermore ll have so constructed the device that anunauthorized person will be unable to operate the same.

While ll have illustrated and described a particular embodiment of myinvention, it has merely been for the sake of convenience and ll do notwish to be limited to that particular embodiment as it is obvious thatnumerous changes may be made in the details 0f construction withoutdepartingfrom the spirit of the invention or exceeding the scope of theappended claims.

What ll claim is 1. The combination with a desk having a series ofdrawersf therein, olf' levers for maintaining the drawers in theirclosed positions and having their ends terminating in the periphery of acircle, a disk mounted above the ends of said levers and having aplurality of lingers extending therefrom, said lingers being so arrangedthat they will simultaneously lie in alinement with the ends of thelevers, said disk having an additional finger adapted to successivelylie in alinement with the ends of the levers when the first mentionedlingers are out of alinement therewith and means for depressing the diskwhen either the lirst mentioned or the last MBE lill@ mentioned lingerslie in alinement with the tendin therefrom, and means for operating 1`ends of the levers. c said dlsk to cause the fingers to operate the 2. Adevice of. the character described levers and release the drawers.

comprising in combination with a plurality In testimonywhereof, I aiiixmy signa- 5 of drawers, a locking lever for each of said ture, in thepresence of two witnesses.

drawers, said locking levers having their FRANK MUENNICH. endsterminating in the periphery ,of a cirl Witnesses: j cle, a diskmountedv above the ends'ofl said PATRICK DOVAN, levers, and having aplurality o f fingers ex- E. A. WOODBURN.'

